LifeNet moves to Mt. Sterling

LifeNet Press Release

MOUNT STERLING — On October 1st LifeNet moved their operation from Morehead to Mt Sterling. LifeNet # 2 will operate from  the Montgomery County Central Fire Station in Mt. Sterling. We will utilize the helipad and living facilities at the fire station.

LifeNet had been asked by the hospital in Morehead, St. Claire Medical Center, to relocate their aircraft to make room for another provider. LifeNet had been looking for some time at moving to the Mt. Sterling area because the Morehead base was less than ideal.

“We are committed to providing safe, reliable and high quality rapid responses to EMS scenes and the Morehead base, with its crew’s quarters being remote from the helicopter, the poor weather and the tricky approach into the helipad made the Morehead location inconsistent with our focus and mission.” Says Tim Smith, Program Director for LifeNet.

“We are also focusing on building a reliable, safe and high quality system to respond to scene emergencies.  We are reducing our lift off times and scene times dramatically. We are looking at all of our base locations to make sure they are in the right location and have the right configuration to meet the needs of our EMS partners.  We are also offering our new “ Scene Team Program” to providers that will help choreograph the rapid transfer of patients between our service and ground EMS services.”  Says Clay Vincent, Chief Flight Nurse for LifeNet.

“At the Mount Sterling location the helicopter is right next to the crew’s quarters which will allow us to respond in 5 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes. The weather is much better in Mt. Sterling which will help reduce the possibility of not being available because of weather. The helipad can be approached from several directions and is an excellent area. All of these things enhance the safety and reliability of our service” Mr. Smith added.

This is an ideal base configuration and location says Bryant Shumate, Base Chief for the Mt. Sterling base. We will be quicker and much more reliable from this location. 

Air Methods Corporation, which is LifeNet’s parent company, is the largest medical helicopter provider in the World.  They are the only air medical program in Kentucky that is CAMTS (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems) Accredited.

To get more information or schedule a “Scene Team” class please call LifeNet at (859) 253-8900.

BACK TO NEWS INDEX

BACK TO MAIN INDEX

COMMENTS

Copyright © 2003 The Kentucky EMS Connection. All rights reserved. News stories may be copyrighted by another organization. Original material may be reproduced provided source is credited.